Funding objectives and target groups
The objective of the European Refugee Fund is to financially support EU Member States in accepting refugees and the challenges arising from this (cf. Art. 2 of the Council ERF Decision).
This can happen in a variety of ways - for example by improving the conditions of acceptance and the asylum process, psychological support, teaching of language skills or helping integrate into the labour market. Projects to continue developing the EU states' asylum policy including improved co-operation, and quality assurance and improving the structure of asylum management and providing information to the majority population are also funded.
The measures that are eligible for funding are explained in detail in Art. 3 of the Council ERF Decision.
The following groups of people can be funded by ERF projects (cf. Art. 6 of the Council ERF Decision):
• persons entitled to asylum or other political refugees with a status defined by the Geneva Convention,
• third-country nationals or stateless persons, who enjoy a form of subsidiary protection in the relevant Member State, or who have applied for this status or to whom this status is temporarily granted,
• third-country nationals or stateless persons who have newly moved to a Member State at the request of the UNHCR.
